As the regulars here know, this forum has descended into a spitting fest with all of the infighting that has been going on lately. I have been racking my brains for a couple of days to think of a topic which we can discuss as a group and try to achieve something positive for all of us. Please stick to the topic, if you have nothing to add then don't post. Please be pleasant to one another, if you have a problem with someone or something that someone has said then send them a PM. ------------------------------------------- Since Google began introducing penalties on directories things took a dive on certain directory projects which I was involved in, but on the flip side other directories I own took in more submissions than they ever have. Things now seem to have leveled out somewhat and I think a sense of normality is beginning to return. Those who know that directory links can be just as valuable as other links were the first customers to return and obviously there were a select few who never stopped submitting. How are your directories doing now the "buzz" has died down about the penalties imposed on directories? Have sales levelled out for you, improved maybe? Or are you still suffering in the wake of what Google did? Were your sites penalized and did you file a re-inclusion request, if so did your efforts to get the penalty remove work? What did you change? Last but not least, what are your thoughts on promoting your directories here in the forums. Some people believe that by doing so you are basically handing your directory to Google for a penalty to be applied if you promote here. Thoughts?
Google ads still are on my directory ( the bling bling directory as i call it . Google still shows up the directory @ #3 spot for "se friendly" term , cause seo friendly is not really a term . So i can say at this point google did not penalize the directory in the first place. As per other promoting it here on DP ! I rarely come here at DP any more but still i get few submissions a month (featured submissions that is) just enough to keep the directory going on and on and on.... So, i can safely say promotion at DP is not required. I see lots of big directories (so called big ones) at the time before google penalty have not come back yet, they still sit at pr 0 and what not, and their ranks like alexa and compete have gone down (showing that owners of such directories are not promoting them no more as they used to when the sites had pr above 5, thus shows that PR could have been their motive for promoting directories initially and selling on the same ) Only one i see that worked out well was dirjournal.com , its now what alive used to be back than. If i am not mistaken it had a forum also but i see it does not exist no more, i wonder why ! Dir journal capitalizes on content, unlike rest of directories used to (they were more about PR than content). So, if you want to do directories, remember to have some content on the site ! Cheers
So far the only directory re-instated that I know of was Aviva, as Jeff took some good steps to ensure it no longer broke Google guidelines. Ewebpages should be re-instated. Thats another well looked after directory that actually has listings in the majority of its categories and I see no reason why it should be penalised. Unfortunately I promoted my fruitydirectory too rapidly. 30,000+ backlinks in a matter of months and mid $xxxx spent on it already lead to a SERP penalty unfortunately. The directory itself is decent IMO, and in a few months when things have settled I should be re-instated, hopefully.
@Mikey i just do not get the concept of having ebay coffee maker on the directory ? Maybe that made google bots confused ? I feel bad that Mystics site alivedirectory still suffers. What happen to zorg ? I do not see it in ur signature no more, are they gone ?
Apart from a 2 point dip in my pagerank for one of me sites, no significant penalty really. I still got a deep deep feeling that Google hates sites that look like link pages, so they went around removing PR points. Ofcourse it could be a drop in my links, tough one to know that. Directories in general have taken a bashing (over last 7 months), but the good news is I think it's only Google doing this, so I might just never use them again - out of protest
I'm going to respect the OP's request to be polite so answer by saying you can tell your very new to the directory industry. Google are pretty much the only ones that directory owners on this level need to concern themselves with. As for promoting on this forum being the only way to get hammered that's a misconception, DP as much as I have fun on here isn't as important as people thing it is, although its the main one to attract idiots labeled the QBC. Decent directories, with or without masses of content are doing just fine, or so I'm led to believe. The key to it is not to chase PR, let it chase you.
Ok, lets put it another way. How has google penalised directories? PR drop... Yes, Traffic drop... No. If your only building a directory to moneterize it through link sales passing PR then you´re in the wrong game. A decent directory will work like any other website; gathers traffic through content and usefullness and moneterizes that traffic in any one of the normal ways. In reponse to teh OP... My directory has lost its PR but its earnings and traffic have multiplied x times... But then again my directory wasn´t built to chase pr...
Mine wasn't built for chasing PR either, but the vast majority of them are - and I hardly see directories with content. They are just categories of lists that sell links off the PR of the homepage, so no wonder Google is not happy. Funnily, my traffic hasn't really dropped that much, stayed pretty constant, so I'm happy.
The ebay shop was just an experiment. As the directory lists cooking equipment I was experimenting with monetising the directory using some similar ebay shops. I actually made a small amount of money last month from 8 sales! Yeah it's sad that Alive is penalised, but at the end of the day a lot needs to be changed there to make it similar to Aviva in order to avoid penalties. As for Zorg, I sold them both back in April.
I tried to have the penalty lifted by dropping Sitewide, losing my paid links, removing TOP and NEW pages and removing reciprocal link option. I did file for reconsideration but still no luck. Thanks Brian
Although I was very worried about substantial business declines it never happened. Except for the loss of a Taiwan commercial account and a few directory submission services its business as usual. The core submitters of my Directories are small business and business startups. Link hounds who always wanted to be in the main topics were always sent packing so we really didn’t loose their submissions.
HI I went from PR5 to PR4 but still ranked #1 in google for my main keyword... and paid submissions and free submissions are up for me... not as much as I would like but I am happy with the progress of my directory. Tom
no removal of a penalty even after removing sitewides and filing a reinclusion request some submitters dont especially care of the pr0 penalty but some are aware of the penalty where your site doesnt show for a search of domain so that means a loss of submissions it will soon be a year since it happened and tbh I dont see much changing in the future so I can understand webmasters dropping promotion to those sites hit as there doesn't seem to be a straightforward way out of it the fact that aviva actually got reincluded isnt on a par with the fate of a lot of other directory owners who did a lot lot less than redirecting domains and sponsoring themes
Aviva was reincluded because hmmm...it's Aviva. I bet after those comment exchanges on GWB, Jeff and Matt had a friendly private chat. I haven't noticed many other directories being reincluded even if, like you said, they did a lot less than Aviva did to deserve penalisation. Sad but true, you won't see any big directories touched by Google but just the little, average ones. Google sent a message at that time, a message on starting the battle against those who don't follow their rules and guidelines. Like in any real battle, there were casualities and most of the times the generals and army leaders won't die in such battles but the simple, poor soldiers. This is exactly what happened when all this started. Little web directories were penalised straight away for any little thing while the big ones either escaped or recovered from penalty later on.
yea unfortunately that seems the case and yea what to do..nothin I think theres definitely a lesson to be learned in promoting on here though I dont really understand how the reinclusion request can work either if someone buys a lot of submissions on pr pages and gets penalised then wants that penalty lifted are they expected to personally go to each site and get their paid submissions removed? I doubt google will want to go through those links and discount them either
Where I do I STAND now? Well, Google is not everything. PR is not what is used to be, there are new ways to attract visitors to your directory even you have 0 pages indexed on Google.